finding Monsuun | est. 2005

“For some reason, the most vocal Christians among us never mention the Beatitudes. But, often with tears in their eyes, they demand that the Ten Commandments be posted in public buildings. And of course that’s Moses, not Jesus. I haven’t heard one of them demand that the Sermon on the Mount, the Beatitudes, be posted anywhere.”

ht to my good friend Jeff at Sharoute

An article titled “Pilgrim’s Progress” occupies some serious space in the middle of Newsweek’s August issue. The title is fitting, if you’ve read the book, as Billy Graham “shares what he’s learned in reflecting on politics and Scripture, old age and death, mysteries and moderation.”

This article was touching and cast a humble light onto the man who “was consumed with preaching and with presidents” and how age, experience, and wisdom have changed his perspective on life and faith. The author quotes his daughter:

The lesson of age, Anne says, is this: “When you get older, secondary things, like politics, begin to fall away, and the primary thing becomes primary again—and for Daddy, the primary thing is, as Jesus said, to try to love God totally, and to love our neighbor as ourselves.”

May we learn this lesson before we reach our twilight. May we learn from his experience, placing secondary things far from those that truly matter.

Read the article here.

Do you have your own Rapture Survival Kit? If not, the end of the world has not yet begun and you can still get your own — you only have 8 hours left if you live in the Southwestern United States. If you live in China, well, its 6-7-06 now and you have nothing to worry about for now — congratulations.

Link via Finding Rhythm

I’ve already posted this at Inbreaking, but I thought I’d post the link to this article here as well.

“An early Christian manuscript, including the only known text of what is known as the Gospel of Judas, has surfaced after 1,700 years. The text gives new insights into the relationship of Jesus and the disciple who betrayed him, scholars reported today. In this version, Jesus asked Judas, as a close friend, to sell him out to the authorities, telling Judas he will “exceed” the other disciples by doing so.”

This is pretty big news and could potentially be the source of some intense debate in the semi-near future. The Gnostic tradition (of which the gospel of Judas is believed to have belonged to) was viewed as heretical by early Christian scholars and that continues today, albeit less intensely. I’m less inclined to be in opposition to the insights provided in this new document since I’ve already believed, for some time, that Judas was acting as an allowed part of God’s master plan. Does it matter if Judas betrayed Jesus at His own request? I really don’t believe so. What matters is that the Son of Man needed to be handed over to the officials in order that He be crucified. And that happened — whether that be at Jesus’ personal request, out of monetary greed, or out of Satanic possession is not essential to the Gospel.

I am excited to take a closer look at the entire codex, though, to gain a better understanding of the writings. You can check out the codex here.

quote via New York Times